๐️Lonny's War Update- October 714, 2023 - September 19, 2025 ๐️
๐️Day 714 that 48 of our hostages are still in Hamas captivity๐️
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**
“I’ve never met them,But I miss them. I’ve never met them,but I think of them every second. I’ve never met them,but they are my family. BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”
Protester for hostage deal arrested after blowing shofar beyond police barriers outside PM’s home
Police detained a protester this morning after he blew a shofar near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home, as part of non-stop demonstrations in the area demanding a hostage-ceasefire deal.
The protester, Rabbi Avidan Freedman, is seen in footage being detained by two police officers after he blows a shofar on the opposite side of the road to Netanyahu’s home. link
He is seen past the crowd control barriers erected by police to distance protesters from the premier’s residence.
Freedman, who is well-known in Jerusalem’s protest scene, was put in handcuffs upon his arrest, was questioned at the police station and is set to be released under restrictive conditions, according to a lawyers’ network representing detained anti-government protesters.
Last night, Zahiro Shahar Mor, the nephew of hostage Avraham Munder, was arrested in Jerusalem during a protest encampment outside Netanyahu’s home.
He was held overnight at the station and questioned on suspicion of behavior liable to disturb public peace, simple assault and interfering with a police officer.
Police are requesting to extend Mor’s detention in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court this morning, according to his lawyer Yoni Nussbaum. link This is fully in line with the deliberate destruction of democracy in Israel and the right to protest. Ben Gvir, who has turned the police into his private militia instructs the police to abuse, prevent and disturb protesters for the hostages and against the government. He attempted to change the policies about demonstrations but the Attorney General told him his policy changes were illegal. That doesn't stop him from instructing his police militia to follow his orders and not the legal decision of the Attorney General. He is a convicted criminal and has 53 arrests on his legal record, so he can never be considered a person who follows the law, and with his being in charge of the police, he now instructs them to break the laws in his name. They do so willingly and actively to curry favor with this criminal minister. As far as he is concerned, it is now illegal to blow a shofar when it is near to anyone in the government, and he has no qualms with harassing families of hostages. He has stated publicly and proudly that he personally is responsible for preventing hostage deals. He has also stated that he has no problems sacrificing all of the hostages in order to attain his goals of taking over Gaza and turning it all into Jewish Settlement. This is the state of law in the swiftly disappearing democracy that we once had and aspired to be.
- Hamas official who survived Doha strike threatens Israel, warns Gaza op endangers hostages
In first appearance since Israel’s failed bombing in Qatar, Bassem Naim warns against offensive, as terror group’s military wing says hostages scattered throughout Gaza CityHamas senior official Bassem Naim, one of the targets of Israel’s attempted strike on top leaders in Doha, threatened Thursday that the IDF’s operation to take over Gaza City runs the risk of harming the hostages still held captive by the terror group.
“The operation in Gaza City will be met with fierce resistance, and the death and destruction that the enemy tries to bring to Gaza’s streets will befall its soldiers,” the Hamas politburo member said in an interview with the Qatari outlet Al-Araby, in his first appearance since being targeted in the September 9 strike.
“Those who harm us during the operation in Gaza City will also harm the hostages, living and dead,” he warned.
Naim was targeted alongside other Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital last week, as the terror group’s brass was said to be meeting to discuss a US-sponsored hostage-ceasefire proposal.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the strike as a success at the time, saying it could open the door for an immediate end to the war. Hamas called the strike a failure. No senior members of the terror group were confirmed killed in the attack, and Israeli officials increasingly believe it failed to eliminate any senior member of the group.
Naim further accused Israel of feigning interest in a hostage deal, saying “it misled everyone as if it was involved in negotiations, in order to cover up its crimes.”
Relatives of hostages have railed against the IDF’s ground operation to take over Gaza City, warning an incursion into the city could lead to more hostages’ deaths. There are 48 hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, of which some 20 are thought to still be alive.
Families of hostages held in Gaza and their supporters protest outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Jerusalem, calling for their loved ones’ release, September 17, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)Since the operation began overnight Monday, several hostages’ families have staged nightly protests outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence, accusing him of abandoning their loved ones.
Naim’s remarks echoed a statement by Hamas’s military wing issued Thursday, which included similar threats regarding the harm that may come to the hostages should the IDF’s operation continue.
“Your hostages are dispersed within neighborhoods in Gaza City and we won’t be obligated to safeguard their lives so long as Netanyahu has resolved to kill them,” read the statement. “The beginning of this criminal operation and its expansion means that you will not retrieve any hostage, living or dead.”
“The fate of all the hostages will be like the fate of Ron Arad,” the military wing continued, referring to the missing Israeli airman who disappeared in southern Lebanon in 1986 and is presumed dead. link Let's look at all the people and bodies that have warned Netanyahu about the risks and dangers to the hostages and to our soldiers entering and fighting in the Gaza City Operation. Firstly, it was the IDF Chief of Staff who stated unequivocally that the operation would be putting all of the hostages at risk, the living at risk of being killed or injured in the aerial bombings or being killed by the Hamas terrorists guards who have explicit instructions to kill any and all hostages they are guarding if they believe the army is getting close. In addition, we know from returned hostages that the terrorists have booby trapped many, if not all of the areas where the hostages are held in order to kill as many soldiers who reach there as possible. We have had too many of our hostages killed both by our own bombings and by the terrorist guards who executed them when the army was nearby.
He expressed the danger of never being able to recover some of the bodies of the dead hostages as their holding areas will be destroyed and/or the Hamas terrorists who know the locations of the bodies will be killed.
The IDF Chief also said that the operation was putting too many soldiers in ever increasingly dangerous situations and that we should expect very high numbers of soldiers' deaths. And finally, he said that very high numbers of Gazan non combatants would be killed and the army would be forced into a situation of having to be the military ruler of Gaza. He, of course expressed other dangers such as the burn out of the soldiers and reservists who have been fighting for hundreds of days in a war that has no end and no strategic goals.
The head of the Mossad also warned Netanyahu about many of the same dangers as the IDF Chief and emphasized the dangers to the hostages.
The hostage families have warned Netanyahu and his entire government of the dangers to the hostages due to this superfluous operation and are demonstrating daily outside the PM's residence.
Hamas has been very clear in their warnings both about the hostages and the soldiers who are obviously their targets. Of course Hamas doesn't want this operation to continue and they are obviously using our hostages as human shields to try to prevent it. Ironically, their hopes and ours are that all of these warnings would have an impact on Netanyahu, but we have seen throughout the war that no warnings, no demonstrations, no begging, nothing will have any impact on Netanyahu. He has long ago shown us that he has no moral compass and no compassion for anyone's suffering. He is fully focused on one thing only, his political survival and every actions and statement that he or his office makes are always predetermined by the question of whether or not it is good for Netanyahu's political survival.
Read the article "Despite promise that this time it will be different, another Gaza offensive won’t end the war" in the War and Politics section below
Read the opinion piece by Reserve General Yisrael Ziv "The result of "Chariots of Gideon" exposed the big fraud of Netanyahu" in the War and Politics section below- Yisrael Ziv is a highly respected General who served in many combat positions such as General of the Southern Division which included Gaza and the Gaza Envelop, Head of Military Missions and more. On October 7, he put on his uniform, took his weapon and drove to the Gaza envelope to fight the Hamas terrorists and to save civilian lives. He is a frequent brilliant commentator on Channel 12 news.
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*6:50pm yesterday-Houthis explosive drone hit the entrance of a hotel in Eilat, fire broke out- no reports of injuries - video
7:55pm yesterday - Second drone ‘from the east’ downed — air force
A drone launched at Israel “from the east” was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago, the military says.
The IDF has previously described attacks from Yemen as “from the east.”
No sirens sounded, “according to protocol,” the army says.
Earlier, a suspected Houthi drone from Yemen slammed into the entrance to a hotel in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat, causing slight damage.
Four soldiers killed in Rafah bomb attack — IDF
Four IDF soldiers were killed and three others were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in southern Gaza’s Rafah this morning, the military announces.
L-R: Maj. Omri Chai Ben Moshe, Lt. Eran Shelem, Lt. Eitan Avner Ben Itzhak, and Lt. Ron Arieli, who were killed in a roadside bomb attack in southern Gaza's Rafah on September 18, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
The slain soldiers are named as:
Maj. Omri Chai Ben Moshe, 26, from Tzafria.
Lt. Eran Shelem, 23, from Ramat Yohanan.
Lt. Eitan Avner Ben Itzhak, 22, from Har Bracha.
Lt. Ron Arieli, 20, from Hadera.
MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE A REVOLUTION
All four served with the Bahad 1 officers’ school’s Dekel Battalion. Ben Moshe was a company commander, while the other three troops were cadets and posthumously promoted to lieutenant.
According to an initial IDF probe, the incident took place during operations in Rafah’s Jenina neighborhood at around 9:30 a.m., as a D9 armored bulldozer was clearing a route while two Humvees drove behind it.
One of the Humvees then moved to the side of the road, where it was hit by an explosive device.
The blast killed the four soldiers and wounded three others, including one seriously and two moderately.
The military is still investigating what type of explosive was used, how it was activated, and when it was placed there.
While Rafah has been largely cleared of Hamas operatives and terror infrastructure, the IDF believes there are several dozen more operatives still there, mostly in the Jenina area. Earlier in the day, before the attack, different troops of the Bahad 1 school had three engagements with terror operatives, according to the army.
IDF identifies officer, soldier killed in Jordan border attackLt. Col. (res.) Yitzhak Harosh, 68, and Sgt. Oran Hershko, 20, killed in shooting and stabbing attack at Allenby Bridge crossing by Jordanian national transporting aid to Gaza; terrorist shot dead by Israeli forces
Lt. Col. (res.) Yitzhak Harosh, Sgt. Oran Hershko (Photo: IDF)
The slain soldiers are named as:
MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE A REVOLUTION
The IDF on Thursday released the names of two Israelis killed in a combined shooting and stabbing attack at the Allenby Bridge border crossing with Jordan.Lt. Col. (res.) Yitzhak Harosh, 68, from Jerusalem, and Sgt. Oran Hershko, 20, from Tel Mond, were killed when a Jordanian gunman opened fire and then stabbed them at the heavily guarded crossing. Harosh was an officer in the IDF Civil Administration’s Reserve Unit 309. Hershko served as a liaison to foreign forces in the IDF’s Tevel (International Cooperation) Brigade.
Magen David Adom emergency responders found both men unconscious at the scene and declared them dead shortly after.According to the military, the terrorist, a Jordanian national, disembarked from an aid truck en route to Gaza and attacked the soldiers with a handgun and knife. He was shot and killed by Israeli security forces stationed at the crossing. The Allenby Bridge was shut down following the attack.
A security official said the attacker had been contracted by the Jordanian military to transport the truck. He arrived from the Jordanian side of the crossing and launched the assault before the vehicle underwent inspection.
Gaza City nearly half emptied, IDF says
More than 450,000 Palestinians have so far evacuated Gaza City to the Strip’s south, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says in a press conference.
Around 1 million Palestinians were estimated to be residing in Gaza City before the IDF began its major offensive against Hamas there.
Displaced Palestinians move with their belongings southward on a road in the Nuseirat area in the central Gaza Strip following renewed Israeli evacuation orders for Gaza City, September 18, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)Defrin says that since the start of the offensive on Monday night, more than 1,200 terror targets have been struck.
Israel said arming, paying salaries of Druze militia in Syria’s Sweida area
Report comes as US pressures Damascus into making security pact with Israel, although any such deal is likely to fall far short of a full peace treaty
Israel is working to unite splintered Druze factions in Syria’s Sweida area, providing them with arms and paying salaries of militia members in the wake of recent attacks and massacres of the Druze community there, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
The report came as Syria was said to be accelerating talks with Israel, under heavy US pressure, for a security pact that Damascus hopes will reverse Israel’s recent seizures of its land but that would fall far short of a full peace treaty, according to sources briefed on the talks.
Two senior Syrian Druze figures, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said that since deadly fighting in Sweida in July, Israel has been helping to unify splintered Druze factions and had delivered military supplies, including guns and ammunition, to them.
The two Druze commanders and a Western intelligence source said that Israel was also paying salaries for many of the roughly 3,000 Druze militia fighters.
Reuters was not able to independently confirm the munitions supplies or the payments. The offices of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who is spearheading Israeli talks with Syria, did not respond to Reuters’ questions on support for the Druze militia.
Washington is pushing for enough progress to be made in the talks between Israel and Syria by the time world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly at the end of this month to allow US President Donald Trump to announce a breakthrough, four of the sources told Reuters.
Even a modest agreement would be a feat, the sources said, pointing to Israel’s tough stance during months of talks and Syria’s weakened position after sectarian bloodshed in its south inflamed calls for partition.
Shattered glass is seen on the facade of a clothing store damaged during clashes between Bedouin clans and Druze militias, in Sweida, Syria, on July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fahd Kiwan)Reuters spoke to nine sources familiar with the discussions and with Israel’s operations in southern Syria, including Syrian military and political officials, two intelligence sources and an Israeli official.
They said Syria’s proposal aims to secure the withdrawal of Israeli troops from territory seized in recent months, to reinstate a demilitarized buffer zone agreed in a 1974 truce, and to halt Israeli airstrikes and ground incursions into Syria.
The sources said talks had not addressed the status of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured during the 1967 Six Day War. A Syrian source familiar with Damascus’s position said it would be left “for the future.”
Israel deployed troops to the demilitarized zone on December 8, 2024, the day a rebel offensive ousted Syria’s then-president, Bashar al-Assad. It struck Syrian military assets and sent troops to within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of Damascus.
Israel has shown reluctance during the closed-door talks to relinquish those gains, the sources said.
Illustrative: Israeli soldiers seen in the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, August 12, 2025. (Ayal Margolin/ Flash90)“The US is pressuring Syria to accelerate a security deal — this is personal for Trump,” said an Israeli security source, who said the US leader wanted to present himself as the architect of a major success in Middle Eastern diplomacy.
But, the source said, “Israel is not offering much.”
The offices of Netanyahu and Dermer did not respond to Reuters’ questions.
A State Department official said Washington “continues to support any efforts that will bring lasting stability and peace between Israel, Syria and its neighbors.”
Trust deficit at talks
The US has encouraged talks between Jerusalem and Damascus — keen to expand the countries that signed peace deals with Israel under the Abraham Accords during Trump’s first administration.
Exploratory contacts began in Abu Dhabi following Sharaa’s April visit to the Emirates, which has ties with Israel. The two sides then met in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, in July.
Days later, discussions were plunged into disarray as clashes erupted between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin in Sweida, with the involvement of government forces.
Israel bombed Syrian government forces during the fighting, saying it was acting to defend the minority group as well as enforce its demands for the demilitarization of southern Syria.
Sharaa accused it of seeking pretexts to interfere in Syria’s south.
Tribal and Bedouin fighters cross Walga town as they mobilize amid clashes near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria on July 19, 2025 (Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP)A US-brokered ceasefire ended the violence and, a month later, bilateral negotiations resumed in Paris – marking the first time Syria publicly acknowledged holding direct talks with its longtime foe.
However, the atmosphere in the room was tense, with a lack of trust between the two sides, according to two Syrian sources and a Western diplomat.
While Sharaa is willing to accelerate talks with Israel to please Washington, he remains wary, according to a Western intelligence officer, the Israeli official and a Syrian source.
He has told Trump’s envoy to the negotiations Tom Barrack that conditions are not yet ripe for a broad peace agreement. “The basic elements of trust are simply not there,” said the Syrian official.
Druze developments bolstered Israel
Israel’s position has been strengthened by the developments in Sweida, where Druze leaders are calling for independence and a humanitarian corridor from the Golan to Sweida — a challenge to Sharaa’s vow to centralize control of Syrian territory.
Members of the Druze community in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights gather for a rally in solidarity with the Druze community in Syria in the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan on July 19, 2025. (Jalaa Marey/AFP)Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani dismissed the possibility of a humanitarian corridor at the Paris talks, saying it would infringe on Syria’s sovereignty, according to a Syrian official familiar with the discussions.
Both sides agreed that stability in Syria’s south was key to preventing a resurgence of covert agents linked to Iran, Hezbollah or any Palestinian terror groups — common enemies of Israel and Syria’s new leaders. Israel agreed to allow interior ministry forces to deploy checkpoints in Sweida.
“Both parties are probing areas of common ground,” said the Syrian official.
Sharaa is keen not to provoke his southern neighbor, aware of how much damage its military can inflict, one close aide said on condition of anonymity: “Avoiding confrontation is central to his plan to rebuild and govern.”
Israel warns Lebanese of looming strikes on Hezbollah sites
The IDF issues a warning to residents of several towns in southern Lebanon ahead of airstrikes against Hezbollah infrastructure.
“In the near future, the IDF will attack military infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terror organization throughout southern Lebanon, in response to its prohibited attempts to rebuild its activities in the area,” warns Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman.
The IDF publishes maps showing the locations of sites and buildings that are going to be targeted in the towns of Mays al-Jabal, Kfar Tebnit, and Dibbin.
“For your safety, you are required to evacuate those buildings and the adjacent buildings immediately and distance yourselves from them by no less than 500 meters,” Adraee says.
Israeli evacuation warnings before strikes in Lebanon have been relatively rare since a November 2024 ceasefire. The last such warning was issued in June ahead of strikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
IDF busts West Bank terror cell manufacturing rockets to be launched at Israel
The Israeli military says it busted a Palestinian terror cell in the Ramallah area of the West Bank that had been building rockets intended to be launched at Israeli targets.
Makeshift rockets found by IDF troops during a raid in the Ramallah area of the West Bank, early September 19, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)The raid comes after the military said troops last week found a crude rocket that a terror cell had attempted to launch from the Palestinian town of Kafr Ni’ma.
Overnight, IDF soldiers, Shin Bet officers and members of the police’s Yamam unit reached a building in the area to detain members of the cell, the military says.
The IDF says the forces opened fire on the building, and three suspects emerged who were then detained and handed over to the Shin Bet for questioning.
Inside the building, the military says troops found dozens of rocket parts, including two completed rockets that did not have a warhead. The soldiers also found dozens of explosive devices and explosive material, alongside other evidence tying them to the efforts to build and launch rockets.
The rockets and explosive material were destroyed, the IDF says.
At another location in the Ramallah area, the military says soldiers found a lathe used to build the rocket parts.
In recent years, there have been several attempts by Palestinian terror groups to launch crude rockets from the West Bank at Israeli settlements and at Israel, though with little to no success.
- Politics and the War and General News
The result of "Chariots of Gideon" exposed the big fraud of Netanyahu
Even after Hamas’s answer exploded in his face, Netanyahu chose the coalition – and the purposeless continuation of the war • Opinion: Major General (Reserves) Israel ZivThe Chief of Staff was recently caught in crossfire. The ministers of the government attack him for softness of his heart and that he is not aggressive enough in the fighting for their taste. On the other hand, the families of the hostages, who fear rightly for the fate of their loved ones, attack him for the fact that he executes a government order over which a black flag is flying, and that the action in Gaza will endanger the hostages held in the tunnels there.
The Chief of Staff, who from the beginning of his role six months ago walks on a tightrope that quickly turned into a hair’s breadth, tries to bridge between the authority of the government over the IDF and his duty to execute, and between his responsibility as the supreme commander to carry out the moves in a professionally correct way, to avoid endangering the hostages, to spare soldiers’ lives, and to act operationally according to international law. The longer the war drags on, the more difficult and complicated the situation becomes. The main problem is the demonstrated weakness of the Prime Minister and the takeover of the messianics on the decisions of the government. The result of these things is the government’s refusal to release the hostages in a deal, and its desire to deepen the war and to impose military rule over all of the Gaza Strip, in the hope of restoring the settlement enterprise there, at the expense of everything else.
Netanyahu chose the coalition, the Chief of Staff was sent to pay the price
The Chief of Staff, like all the soldiers behind him, clings to the realization of the goals of the war, foremost among them the release of the hostages. He understands now that Operation "Chariots of Gideon" only brought closer the political moment of truth and exposed the fraud before everyone’s eyes.The operation, which was intended to improve the operational results of the war, indeed brought about that Hamas agreed on August 18 also to the partial deal that Netanyahu invented already a year ago to evade a comprehensive deal. Netanyahu did not believe that Hamas would agree to this, mainly after he himself thwarted in March Stage B of the last deal, and now Hamas’ answer shattered in his face. He is required now to choose between the personal price of the continuation of the messianic coalition, alongside that has held already close to two years in the hope of returning the hostages and ending the war as he "promised." It seems that despite the embarrassment, his choice was clear.
Netanyahu, who constantly stalls for time, was suddenly required to deal with his own spin that made possible both – both war and hostages. He was filled with embarrassing and resounding silence as admission. The weakest Prime Minister in the history of Israel shut himself and clung to the personal interest of keeping his chair, and chose to be dragged, that he is aware of, into Gaza. The Prime Minister chose to endanger the hostages, to pay at the additional price of soldiers killed, also at the price of breaking the public consensus and at a heavy international price, something that attests to the difficult state of the Prime Minister who goes and shuts himself off and disconnects from everything around him.
The Chief of Staff remained by himself to confront the messianics, before Struck and Smotrich who are disconnected from reality and see nothing before their eyes except a war of revenge, conquest of Gaza, imposition of military rule and return of Gush Katif. The Chief of Staff has no Prime Minister who will stand and defend him. On the contrary, Netanyahu distances him so that he can cast the expected failure on him. Also the Minister of Defense, who is already deep in the primaries, stabs a knife in his back to earn a few miserable points for himself in the Likud center.
The Chief of Staff between the hammer and the anvil
The way of the Chief of Staff is to execute the instructions of the government, when above him there is in truth, no serious and responsible security cabinet. The instructions he receives are only oral slogans, without any definition of what the required purpose of the action in Gaza is, what exactly the goals and achievements are. It is clear that for the echelon above him and from the point of view of the Prime Minister definitions are just an obstacle. What is important is only that the war will continue. His method is that if the Chief of Staff will bring successes, he will adopt them immediately and mention that he is the one who pushed there. If there will be failures, then they are only of the Chief of Staff, who is not aggressive enough, and acts not correctly and more and more. Netanyahu is the father of the doctrine of fleeing responsibility and adopting successes.The Chief of Staff needs to navigate in this complicated minefield. He must continue the war to conquer Gaza, he must preserve the motivation of the fighters, he must have the trust of the parents and the trust of the families of the hostages. He must act according to international law and not according to the instructions of "Kohelet Forum." His action plan contains all of these complexities, and it is clear that it will not be possible to succeed in everything. To the Chief of Staff it is clear that not endangering the hostages and keeping the security of the force are one rank above, and the challenge of conquering Gaza from the remainder of Hamas that entrenched there must take place under these conditions.
This is not going to be "a walk in the park." This is a mission in which in the absence of political purpose the mission itself turned into a goal. The desire of Netanyahu for a quick showcase operation will not materialize, its achievement is in the lowest common denominator of minimum damage that will be caused as a result of the unnecessary action.
In his book of Dale Herspring on political-military level relations, he analyzes the essential need of "shared responsibility" that is binding between the political level and the military level when managing crises and wars. He explains that only when both sides are fully harnessed to the same goal, and there exists a clear understanding that both sides bear shared responsibility to achieve it, is it possible to bring victory and significant successful result. Apparently neither Netanyahu nor his ministers read the book, and the casting of the Chief of Staff into the fire alone attests not only to their cowardice, but to their baseness and their lack of morality, and to the fact that their time is up.
The Chief of Staff is the responsible adult and the most important leader today in the severe internal crisis of the State of Israel. It is important to rely on him and to back him, Israel has no one stronger and more responsible than him to navigate the situation.
The hope is Trump, in a little more than a month the candidates for the Nobel Prize will be chosen. If the war in Gaza will continue to bleed, Trump will watch the ceremony in front of the television in the Oval Office. He understands that only he can impose the ending of the war and the return of the hostages – now. link
Israel could push partial West Bank annexation 'diplomatically' despite UAE threats, minister says
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer says Israel could frame Jordan Valley annexation as response to European recognition of Palestinian state, but faces warnings from UAE and pushback from far-right allies demanding broader moves
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, considered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidant and the official responsible for relations with the United States and Gulf states, has said in multiple conversations that he “can push through diplomatically” a move to annex the Jordan Valley — both with Washington and despite threats from the United Arab Emirates.According to three political and diplomatic sources familiar with his position, Dermer believes he can present such a step as a countermeasure to the expected recognition of a Palestinian state by several countries, led by France and the United Kingdom, at the UN General Assembly next week.Dermer has also expressed confidence that he can advance the move “quietly” with Democrats in the U.S. as well. He argues that bipartisan thinking is required on this matter. “It matters that opposition parties like Yisrael Beiteinu, Blue and White and even parts of Yesh Atid supported Avigdor Liberman’s bill on this in the last winter session, which the coalition voted down,” the sources said. Dermer’s office did not deny the reports, responding only: “No comment.”Netanyahu is weighing the move, along with more symbolic measures such as closing the French consulate in Jerusalem. However, he has not made a final decision, and it is not clear whether the talk of annexation is a genuine plan or a threat meant to dissuade countries from recognizing a Palestinian state.The issue of annexation in the West Bank as an Israeli response to recognition of Palestinian statehood was raised between Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his visit to Israel this week. According to Israeli sources, Rubio conveyed that Washington has warned European states against unilateral steps, stressing that such moves would prompt a unilateral response from Israel.Symbolism and far-right pushbackWashington is not expected to veto an Israeli annexation move, but there is an understanding that the U.S. does not want to endanger the Abraham Accords, considered President Donald Trump’s key foreign policy legacy. Netanyahu, too, is reluctant to risk a rupture with the UAE. For that reason, annexing only the Jordan Valley — seen as symbolic compared with annexing the entire West Bank or the Israeli-controlled portion of the territory known as Area C — is being considered a more viable option.The UAE has sent strong warnings in recent weeks, declaring that annexation in the West Bank would be a “red line” and would harm bilateral ties established under the Abraham Accords. Reuters reported Thursday, citing sources in Abu Dhabi, that annexation would downgrade relations and could even prompt the UAE to recall its ambassador, though not fully sever tiesOn the domestic front, Netanyahu faces opposition from his far-right coalition partners. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the Yesha Council, a powerful settler lobby that leads the public campaign for annexation, oppose applying it only to the Jordan Valley. They argue that doing so in exchange for recognition of a Palestinian state would be weaker than a 2020 annexation plan presented by Trump during his first term and would imply de facto recognition that the rest of the territory belongs to a Palestinian state, especially against the backdrop of European recognition efforts.Following reports in recent weeks that Israel was considering a “symbolic annexation” move, Smotrich said, “We don’t do half or a quarter of the job. Israeli annexation must be applied to the entire territory. Simply because this is our land.” Shortly afterward, he unveiled a plan to annex 82 percent of the West Bank, saying: “Maximum land, minimum Arabs.” Link
Sources say UAE won’t cut Israel ties if West Bank annexed, despite warning that’s a ‘red line’The United Arab Emirates may downgrade its diplomatic ties with Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government annexes part or all of the West Bank, but it is not weighing the option of severing them completely, according to three sources briefed on the Gulf Arab state’s deliberations.
This is despite Emirati foreign ministry official Lana Nusseibeh telling The Times of Israel on September 3 that any annexation would be a “red line,” jeopardize the Abraham Accords, and end the pursuit of regional integration.
Israel’s government has recently taken steps that could presage annexation of the West Bank, which was captured from Jordan along with East Jerusalem in a war in 1967. The United Nations and most countries oppose such a move.
The UAE, which established ties with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, is considering withdrawing its ambassador in any response, the sources tell Reuters.
The sources, all speaking on condition of anonymity, say Abu Dhabi is not considering completely severing ties, although tensions have mounted during the almost two-year-old Gaza war.
A source in Israel says the government believes it can repair its strained ties with the UAE, a major commercial center seen as the most significant of the Arab states to establish ties with Israel in 2020. The others were Bahrain and Morocco.
The UAE foreign ministry does not respond to questions on whether it is weighing downgrading diplomatic ties with Israel.
The spokesperson at the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi says that Israel is committed to the Abraham Accords and that it will continue to work toward strengthening ties with the UAE.
- Despite promise that this time it will be different, another Gaza offensive won’t end the war
Opinion: The government that imposed Operation Gideon’s Chariots II on the military is banking on the public’s short memory and on a universal hope: one more operation and it will be over; this is not the reality, howeverThis is probably one of the rare moments in history when the IDF launches a wide ground operation with many thousands of our soldiers inside enemy territory even as most of the public and much of the senior military leadership understand it will not change the course of the campaign.Even a second takeover of Gaza City will not make Hamas wave a white flag, and it certainly will not decisively defeat the organization. The IDF has previously taken control of Gaza City, Hamas’ seat of power. That took place at the end of October 2023 when the 162nd and 36th divisions carried out large-scale operations.Those divisions remained in the city for months, roughly until January 2024, after which they withdrew to Khan Younis and later to Rafah. It’s all been done before — and yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his people promise that this time it will be different. Why? Because they said so.The government that imposed Operation Gideon’s Chariots II on the military (and will likely impose its upcoming sequels) is banking on the public’s short memory and on a universal hope: one more operation and it will be over, a few more weeks of fighting and Hamas will surrender and we will achieve the absolute victory Netanyahu promised for so many months.Such a victory will not be achieved without a political plan, without a governing alternative to Hamas. Netanyahu and his supporters sanctify war as an end rather than treating it as a means. The public must understand that as long as the government refuses to discuss a realistic political alternative in Gaza, Israel will continue to flounder in the Strip indefinitely, certainly through the coming year.Perhaps that is even the aim — to head into elections a year and a month from now while the war still rages, and then use the ongoing fighting to change the electoral system or postpone the vote. What, then, can this operation actually achieve?First, it can provide a military decision against Hamas brigades and inflict damage on terrorists and infrastructure. Second, such an action might create pressure within Hamas’s leadership to resume negotiations over the hostages — negotiations that stalled after the Israeli strike in Qatar.Yet we must face the truth: it’s already doubtful whether Hamas’ Gaza City Brigade functions as a brigade in any conventional sense. Hamas long ago shifted to operating in the mode that suits it best: a guerrilla organization. It is reasonable to assume that many of the terrorists from the Gaza brigade fled south, to areas where the IDF is not present.We will not see combat on the scale of the early months of the war. Instead, we should expect targeted actions — strikes from tunnels or semi-ruined homes followed by immediate withdrawal into hiding. At this stage, the terror organization has given up direct, conventional confrontation; its goal now is to harass IDF forces and survive.What about the hostages? As IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has tried to argue in comments leaked to the media day and night, the price of this operation is expected to be high: the danger to the hostages’ lives will increase and some may be harmed. At the same time, the IDF will suffer casualties, and of course, innocent Palestinian civilians will be killed. Soldier fatigue will reach new highs, international criticism of Israel will intensify and isolation on the world stage will deepen. Another Gazan neighborhood will be destroyed, homes and tunnels will be razed, yet the reality in which Hamas survives and the war grinds on is unlikely to change. The U.S. administration appears, for now, to continue backing Israel. President Donald Trump and others seem to give Israel a green light to operate in Gaza despite international criticism. The question is for how long. When Netanyahu visits Washington in about two weeks, will the operation still be in full swing, with great risk to the hostages’ lives and the prospect of massive civilian casualties? Netanyahu’s team seems to have sold Trump and his advisers on a quick, sharp operation that will supposedly deliver the longed-for victory. But it must be understood that this campaign could last for months, and still not all terror infrastructures will be dismantled and certainly not all terrorists eliminated. If so, it is far from certain that Trump’s stance will remain so indulgent and supportive of Israel. link
- The Region and the World
Jordan condemns Allenby crossing attack as blow to Gaza aid effort
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry says it condemns the fatal double stabbing at the Allenby Border Crossing earlier today, indicating it could impact its ability to get humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Jordan’s security services have launched an investigation into “the shooting incident this afternoon on the other side of the King Hussein crossing, which Jordan condemned and rejected as a violation of international law, Jordan’s interests, and its ability to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” the ministry says, using the Jordanian name for the crossing, which links Jordan to the Israeli-controlled West Bank.
According to Israel, a man driving a truck of aid bound for Gaza opened fire on Israelis at the crossing and proceeded to stab two people to death. He was shot and killed by security forces on the scene.
It names the suspected attacker as Abd al-Mutalib al-Qaisi, a 57-year-old man who began driving trucks of aid being sent to Gaza three months ago.
The Foreign Ministry adds that Jordan “calls for an end to the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and for a permanent ceasefire.”
Qatari minister calls Netanyahu’s justifications of Doha strike ‘insult to intelligence’
A Qatari minister pens a Washington Post op-ed blasting Israel’s recent strike on Hamas leaders in the Gulf state, calling it “an attack on diplomacy itself” and declaring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a major threat to peace and security in the Middle East — and to the international legal order.”
Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Doha’s minister of state in the Foreign Ministry, argues that “never before in modern memory has a negotiating party attacked a mediating country,” and that the strike therefore “violated the most basic principles of sovereignty and nonintervention enshrined in international law,” and was “an assault on the very practice of mediation.”
Dismissing Netanyahu’s reasoning for the strike, the minister writes: “The justifications his government has offered — comparing the attack on Qatar to America’s pursuit of Osama bin Laden, French insurgency operations in Africa and Britain’s role in the fight against the Islamic State — are distortions and deflections. To address but one example, the United States never targeted the Taliban office in Doha while it was negotiating an agreement with the group, with Qatar as mediator.”
Al-Khulaifi hails Qatar’s mediation role with Hamas to prevent conflict over the years, and to reach hostage deals during the current war, adding: “For Netanyahu to now criticize Qatar for hosting Hamas officials is to insult the intelligence of the international community, the media and even the Israeli public.”
“If mediators can be bombed with impunity, then who will host peace talks? Without safe channels for diplomacy, war becomes the only option, civilization recedes, and the rule of law is replaced with brute force.” link The Minister said the following: "declaring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a major threat to peace and security in the Middle East — and to the international legal order.” I can't remember a more cogent and concise statement that correct describes Netanyahu. Israel's true existential threat has been the failure to solve the Israel/Palestine conflict. Netanyahu has focused much of his career on never engaging the Palestinian leadership in any effort to solve the conflict because he knows so well that the only real way to do so would entail a Palestinian State living side by side with Israel. His personal incitement against Yitzhak Rabin and the Oslo Accords is what brought about the assassination of Rabin for which he never took any responsibility (which is par for the course). He prevention of ever discussing the resolution of the conflict is what drove him to weaken the Palestinian Authority and strengthen Hamas (which had been referred to in his cabinet as an asset to Israel). By having a weak moderate PA and a strengthened terrorist organization ruling Gaza, he could always claim that there is no one to talk to on the other side. He has boldly stated on too many public occasions that we will always need to live by the sword. And then everything he does is to ensure that we will forever live by the sword.
He has had so many opportunities to make a hostage deal and end the war, but that doesn't suit his political survival needs and goes fully with living by the sword. This war has gone to his head so badly that he now has absolutely no restraint of military action no matter who it is aimed at. He deliberately attacked Hamas leadership in Qatar to kill Trump's deal to end the war and to put focus on everything he says about Qatar to draw focus off of himself and his major failures in this war. And here again, the Qatari minister is right on target. Netanyahu's words of justification of the attack are truly an 'insult to intelligence' but that doesn't matter to him. He sees the Israeli public as lacking intelligence and with very short memories which has served him well in the past. But now he is very mistaken. The collective memory of the entire country will never forget October 7, his responsibility for bringing it upon us and his mishandling of the war and hostage crisis. He will learn about Israeli intelligence and memory when elections come around, hopefully sooner than later.First-of-its-kind Democratic-led US Senate motion seeks recognition of Palestinian state
A group of US senators has introduced the first Senate resolution to urge recognition of a Palestinian state, further signaling a shift in American sentiment toward Israel nearly two years into its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Democratic-led measure is unlikely to pass the chamber where President Donald Trump’s Republicans have a 53-47 majority. Trump said yesterday that he disagrees with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over whether to recognize a Palestinian state, and no Republicans have joined efforts to do so.
Democrat Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who is leading the effort, says in a statement: “America has a responsibility to lead, and the time to act is now.”
The resolution urges US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel and would offer both sides hope while boosting prospects for peace, Merkley said.
In the House of Representatives, Ro Khanna of California is circulating a letter hoping to rally support for recognition of Palestinian statehood.
The actions reflect a shift among lawmakers toward pressuring Israel to end the war and ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as the conflict approaches the two-year mark.
The Israeli embassy in Washington does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Senate resolution’s other co-sponsors are Democrats Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Peter Welch of Vermont, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, as well as Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
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Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
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